(Photo: Elisa Haberer / Opéra national de Paris) I sensed two ghosts on the stage of Opéra Bastille last night. Don’t worry—they were as nice as ghosts can be. In fact, they were so congenial that they enhanced the operatic experience, turning what would have been a merely jolly evening into a thought-provoking one. The problem is, no matter how {…}
(Photo credit: © Ruth Walz) Puccini in Aix-en-Provence is not an obvious combination, and it was not until 2019 with Christophe Honoré’s “Tosca” production that Lucca’s maestro made his debut in the festival. It was an ultra-revisionist “Tosca”: two primissime donne on the stage, several videoclips, and many other bold choices. It was glorious and thought-provoking. Therefore, expectations for a “Madama {…}
The Opéra de Lille has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Nicola Porpora’s “Polifemo” will feature Kangmin Justin Kim, Marie Lys, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Delphine Galou, José Coca Loza, and Florie Valiquette. Emmanuelle Haïm conducts the production by Bruno Ravella. Performance Dates: Oct. 8-16, 2024 Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s “David et Jonathas” will star Petr Nekoranec, Gwendoline Blondeel, Jean-Christophe Lanièce, Lucile Richardot, Étienne Bazola, {…}
The Opéra de Paris has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Verdi’s “Falstaff” opens the season with a cast that includes Ambrogio Maestri, Olivia Boen, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, Andrei Kymach, Gregory Bonfatti, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Iván Ayón-Rivas, and Federica Guida. Michael Schønwandt conducts the production by Dominique Pitoiset. Performance Dates: Sept. 10-30, 2024 Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” will star Eleonora Buratto, Elena Stikhina, Aude {…}
Photo: © Marco Borrelli Berlioz’s “Les Troyens” is one of those operas that is larger than life. Arguably, two operas in one night. Everything sounds like the realization of romanticism’s epic promise and showcases the musicians’ talents overflowing in the hall. It is hard to not expect a lot from a performance of Berlioz’s opera with a revolutionary and Romantique {…}
The Berlin Philharmonic has announced its 2023-24 Season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Iván Fischer conducts Michael Nagy in works by Jörg Widmann and Gustav Mahler. Performance Date: August 26, 2023 Alexander Rudin, Alexander Melnikov, Nadezhda Pavlova, and Olga Pashchenko perform works by Sergei Rachmaninov. Performance Date: August 27, 2023 Robin Ticciati conducts Wu Wei Sheng, Karen {…}
Belgium’s Opera de Liege has announced its 2023-24 season featuring youth opera, opera, and concerts. Fabio Biondi conducts Mozart’s “Idomeneo” with Giorgio Berrugi, Annalisa Stroppa, Maria Grazia Schiavo, Nino Machaidze, and Riccardo Della Sciucca. Jean-Louis Grinda directs. Performance Dates: Sept. 19-28, 2023 Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” is set to star Ruzil Gatin, Pablo Ruiz, Aya Wakizono, Chiara Tirotta, Vittorio Prato, {…}
The General and Artistic Director of Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège Stefano Pace has announced that tenors Maxime Melnik and Zeno Popescu will no longer be appearing in the Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera and Gianni Santucci’s production of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Per the statement, two singers were dropped from the production because it was estimated that they did not satisfy {…}
The Opéra de Rouen is set to broadcast “Il Trovatore” in movie theaters and on France 3 tv on Oct. 2, 2021. The opera, which will also be available to stream live worldwide on Facebook, will star Lionel Lhote as the Count de Luna, Jennifer Rowley as Leonora, Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo as Azucena, Ivan Gyngazov as Manrico, Grigory Shkarupa as {…}
(Credits: © Aymeric Giraudel / Fabien Monthubert / © Simon Fowler) Opéra de Rouen Normandie, France has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article, we will only focus on the operatic and vocal performances. Here is the full slate. Opera and Musicals Verdi‘s “Il Trovatore” opens the season with Lionel Lhote as Count di Luna, Brigitta Kele {…}
Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in Belgium has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on the vocal works only. Here is the full slate. Opera Verdi‘s “La Forza del Destino” will star Marcelo Álvarez as Don Alvaro, María José Siri as Donna Leonora, and Simone Piazzola as Don Carlo di Vargas. The cast also {…}